Leonia Council to decide next month on whether firefighter can rejoin department

LEONIA – The Borough Council is expected to rule next month on whether an expelled firefighter can rejoin the Fire Department following a public hearing this week.

The borough’s fire committee determined this year that Arnold Davenport was ineligible to serve as a firefighter because he had failed a criminal background check. A meeting was scheduled to allow him to appeal that determination before the full council, but he failed to show up, Councilman Greg Makroulakis said. Davenport was told to turn in his gear in March.

Davenport’s attorney, Michael Prigoff, said his client was not notified of either the committee’s decision or any scheduled hearing. Given these concerns, Makroulakis said the council decided to give Davenport a second chance to plead his case at a hearing Monday.

At that hearing, Leonia Police Chief Thomas Rowe revealed that Davenport was ineligible to serve not only because of a 1997 conviction for marijuana possession with the intent to distribute in Rhode Island – which has previously been reported — but also for two additional convictions for obstruction and simple assault.

This is not the first time Davenport’s criminal record has been discussed at a public meeting. In February, Borough Attorney Brian Giblin said at a council meeting that a background check indicated Davenport had convictions that would exclude him from serving with the fire department. Rowe told the council at that meeting of Davenport’s drug charge, which he said would be a third-degree crime in New Jersey, but made no mention of the other offenses, according to meeting minutes.

But on Monday, Rowe testified that Davenport had also been convicted of two offenses in Rhode Island that would be considered fourth-degree crimes in New Jersey.

Under new regulations adopted in October, all borough firefighters must undergo criminal background checks every two years. Anyone convicted of a fourth-degree crime or higher is barred from serving with the department.

The new rules – which were intended to give the borough more oversight over the volunteer fire department — were enacted four months after the 3-year-old son of a firefighter was allegedly molested at the firehouse by a developmentally disabled teenager who had hoped to join the department. The fire company is suing the borough over the new rules.

Obstruction is a fourth-degree offense in New Jersey if the person interferes with the investigation or prosecution of a crime. Davenport said Monday that he had been watching someone get arrested when police tried to disperse him and other onlookers. When he refused to leave, he was arrested, he said.

A criminal complaint supplied by the borough said Davenport was accused of “yelling and attempting to incite a crowd” while an officer made an arrest.

Simple assault without bodily injury is a disorderly persons offense in New Jersey. However, Rowe said that the degree of the crime is based on the maximum penalty that a person could receive, which he said in Rhode Island is one year in jail for simple assault. In New Jersey, the maximum sentence for a disorderly persons offense is six months in jail and 18 months for a fourth-degree crime.

Prigoff argued that had the crimes been committed in New Jersey, they would have been disorderly persons offenses and therefore would not affect Davenport’s membership in the Fire Department.

As for the drug charge, Prigoff said it was not a “serious crime” that would adversely affect an individual’s performance as a firefighter. Davenport served with the fire department for 16 years in an “exemplary fashion” and had been promoted to lieutenant, Prigoff said.

Davenport was arrested in his apartment with his girlfriend, Prigoff said. According to a police report obtained through an Open Public Records request, police found 32 bags of marijuana, a scale and a “special doorbell” often used to signal a drug sale.

The council is expected to announce its decision at its Sept. 3 meeting.